Pinkerton Manor

Today I am channelling my inner domestic goddess and getting some household chores done.  Washing, dishes, cleaning and tidying are all on the agenda, but I may need to duck out later to pick up a few things for dinner tonight (and possibly a sweet reward for myself!).  I’ve also decided that I need to go through all my clothes (again) and assess my wardrobe situation.  I’ve got a few bags of clothes and things that I need to list on eBay already, but I’m thinking I might end up adding to that.

I chose a few simple pieces to layer today, but not too heavy since it’s still warm here in Brisbane.  The top I bought on clearance at Kmart, shorts are thrifted, 3/4 leggings from a discount outlet and the scarf was a gift from Matt’s mum.  I had a go at academichic’s ‘pretzel tie’ and absolutely love the way it looks with this scarf.  I’m so excited that they’re having a ‘scarf month’ this month and can’t wait to see more.

And now I’m off to clean the stove!

To make up for my lack of posts of late, I have a little story to tell.  And above is what I wore today.  I managed to con Matt into taking my photo since I still don’t have a tripod.  He’s not as artistic with his photography as Louie, but at least he gets my entire body in the shot.  Tshirt from some outlet store at DFO Canberra, denim shorts I cut down from a pair of old jeans, shoes from Big W and scarf from Tree of Life.  Now on to the story.

I recently slipped up on my resolution to only buy second hand or hand made.  I bought a cheap singlet from Big W.  It’s actually quite a nice little top (see below) and I’ve worn it a bunch of times already, but it’s nothing outstanding.  In fact, the reason I bought it actually has nothing to do with what it looks like.  I bought it because I got self conscious and didn’t feel comfortable in what I was wearing at the time.  Pretty lame, yeah?

It gets quite hot and humid here during summer, so I walked out the door wearing a denim skirt and a large scarf styled as a halter over a bikini top.  I love the versatility of scarves and I’ve worn them like this before.  The scarf in question (see above) is big enough that it covered me from neck to waist on the front, leaving my shoulders exposed and just a little bit of lower back peeking out if I sat down, but after about an hour of being out and about I suddenly felt incredibly self conscious.  With a two hours to go before meeting a friend, I panicked and bought the cheapest top I could lay my hands on.

It’s very rare that I will feel uncomfortable in what I’m wearing like that, but the few times it has happened it seems to have hit me quite hard.  After some quiet reflection over an iced chocolate the next day, I realised that the way I felt had pretty much nothing to do with clothes.  I was already feeling a bit shit that day and although I felt ‘safer’ once I was wearing a conventional top I still didn’t feel great the rest of the day.  I guess, in a way, my new top will serve as a rather pretty reminder that I make my style because my style shouldn’t make me.

Back in Brisbane and loving it.  Still adjusting to the humidity after so much dry weather in Canberra, but it’s great to have good coffee and sushi places in more than two locations.  And multiple Nando’s, all of which include drinks in the meal deals!  Plus I love Brisbane.  It’s home.

I’ve really missed that view.  I’ve been walking a lot lately, taking everything in and making an effort to take different routes and occasionally deviate from my destination.  I want to get to know the city better and hopefully get some good photos along the way too.

Second hand or hand made is going well(ish).  I bought swimmers from a store the other day, but I justified it to myself with the fact that I’m incredibly fussy about swimmers and these were only $17.  And I needed them asap since my previous bikini disintegrated in Melbourne and I need to start swimming as exercise for my knees (I’ve even been looking into aquarobics).

Speaking of aqua, Matt gave me one of the best gifts I have ever received for Christmas.  A fish tank!  And once we have it set up, he’s taking me to buy a couple of fantails.  I’m so excited.  We went and had a look at some fish last week, they’re so cute with their swimming around and looking pretty.  We also looked at seahorses and although I could keep them in my tank without any problems, Matt thinks they’re weird (and I would probably spend all my time watching them with quiet awe).

And now I leave you with what was meant to be an outfit photo.  I didn’t realise how great being able to use Mum’s tripod was until trying to take these photos.  I think I will have to invest in my own.

Hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and New Years!

EDIT:  Reading By Hillary just now and was reminded that I forgot to include what I’m wearing in the above photo.  So, here it is.

Awesome t-shirt – thrifted, very comfortable purple pants – Tree of Life, amethyst earrings – gift from Matt, necklace with pendant watch – eBay, garnet bracelet – made by me.

Holy crap, it’s nearly next year already!  Tomorrow will be the last day of 2009 and I’ll be jetting back to Brisbane.  I meant to post a phone sock tutorial before the year ended, but my camera batteries died so it will have to wait.  For now though, let’s talk about new years resolutions.  I’ve never really liked new years resolutions since every time I make them I inevitably don’t stick to them or they become irrelevant or I forget what they were.  So, for 2010 I am calling them goals.  And here they are.

• Get my learner driver licence
• Go back to uni or study of some kind
• Look after myself better, eat healthier and relax more
• ‘Second hand or hand made’

I’d better explain the last one.  I buy a lot of clothes and fashion related things and this year a lot of those purchases have been from shitty chain stores or discount outlets.  Sure they’re cheap and fun and sometimes I get some excellent stuff, but I’ve decided that in 2010 it has to be ‘second hand or hand made’.  I’m also going to shop local as much as I can.  From buying my fruit and veg from the local farmers market to supporting local designers and craftspeople.  And I’ll be blogging about it all the way; featuring Australian designers, artists, craftspeople and purveyors of fine wares and calling for suggestions too.  I’ve yet to decide what I will do if I slip and buy something from K-mart, but I’m open to suggestions for that as well.

See you next year!

I’ve been a little quiet lately.  Mostly because I’ve been busy.  I went to Melbourne a few weeks ago for a holiday and it was hands down the best week of my life so far.  Hands down!  I’d never been there before, but people had always told me that I would like it.  They weren’t wrong.  I want to live there.  I met up with my ex boyfriend from Brisbane and we shared a hotel room for the week.  We’ve kept in contact a lot since I left Brisbane and we’re very good friends.  Even though we’d been a couple for nearly three years, Melbourne was our first real holiday together.  Anyway, here are some photos before I explain more.

Matt in front of Flinders Street Station

Lord of the Fries

I think that’s a theatre or something

Bikes we hired for the day

Church we stopped to look at on our ride

Matt with his bike

Cupcakes from my new favourite place, Little Cupcakes

Matt at Little Cupcakes

The cupcakes were delicious

I didn’t get nearly as many photos as I would have liked since I kept leaving my camera in the hotel room.  Sometimes because I had the dumb and others because I was achey and couldn’t be bothered carrying it.  We ate so much amazing food, my favourites being Little Cupcakes and Soul Mama.  We went to Soul Mama for a date.  It was the greatest date ever.  After we ate what was easily one of the best meals ever we headed over to Luna Park.  We went on the Scenic Railway and laughed so hard it hurt, then Matt played a sideshow game and won me a purple snake softie which I wore around my neck afterwards when we went for cake in Acland Street.

The other highlight for me was riding a bike.  I hadn’t ridden a bike since I was a kid and I was a little worried that between the arthritis in my back and the problems I have with my knees I might have a bit of trouble.  But I desperately wanted to do it and Matt was incredibly supportive.  We rode along the river for a while, but my knees started to hurt so we decided to cut through some suburbs in order to get to Abbotsford Convent.  We walked our bikes for a bit and then when we came to a slight downhill run Matt convinced me to get back on.  I had the time of my life!  We rode the rest of the way with no problems at all.  On the way back to the city I even rode in a bike lane on the road.  On the road!  I really want to buy a bike now.

In the weeks since I’ve been back I’ve done a lot of thinking and Matt and I have done a lot of talking.  I’m moving back to Brisbane on the 31st of December.  Moving back in with Matt, but we’re taking things slowly and seeing what happens.  I’m planning on going back to uni to finish my creative writing degree mid year and I’m going to put a lot more effort into the blog and my various creative endeavours.  I’m so happy and enthusiastic about life at the moment.  It’s fantastic.  I’m glad I moved to Canberra even though it hasn’t lasted that long.  I’ve spent lots of time with Mum and Louie and Matt and I have both grown and learned to communicate with one another much better.  Plus I’ve saved some money while I’ve been here so I can afford to go for my learners licence next year and get driving lessons.  I’d still rather a bicycle though, but I can probably afford that too.  Yay!

I just wanted to share how awesome my little brother is. Here are some choice quotes.

“I only think about things I don’t know about.”

Me: I just saw some ducks!
Mum: Must be because of the ponds they build around here. Every pond needs ducks.
Me: Every duck needs a pond.
Mum: Maybe they build the ponds just for the ducks.
Louie: Maybe they build the ducks just for the ponds!

Me: Those are expensive dvds. Oh, wait, they’re blu rays.
Louie: Your Mum’s a blu ray.

Me: *something about things being on fire*
Louie: Your face is on fire.

“I hate when people graffiti their names on things. It’s not very unitive. Unitive is my new word for good.”

Also, he wears Volleys and scarves and flannel shirts and likes sushi and has great taste in music. Oh, and he’s also a keen photographer. I’ll post some of his photos soon. They’re really awesome.

Apparently the Wild Things are in Canberra. Or at least they were. I spotted this awesome graffiti every day walking to work in the mornings and it always made me smile. Until this morning when I discovered that some jerk had covered Max’s head with an ugly poster. So glad I got a photo of it now.

The last few days I’ve been trying to decide whether to do outfit photos for the days I go to work. I love getting dressed on the weekends and always put effort into what I wear, but when I go to work it’s more a question of ‘what clothes do I have that look good, but I won’t be upset if I ruin’. So I kind of wear a lot of the same.

Right now I’m wearing black pants, a maroon cowboy check shirt with a grey knit vest over the top. It’s actually a pretty neat outfit, but I’ve worn it once a week since I started this job. Plus I’m usually too rushed in the mornings to be taking photos and too tired in the afternoons. Perhaps for now at least I’ll skip the work-day outfit photos. Unless I’m feeling particularly spectacular anyway.

T-shirt – Maddisson
Cardigan – Hand me down from Mum
Jeans – Hot Options

I’ve just been hanging out at home today doing washing and tidying up a bit. When I go out to do my groceries later I’ll probably throw my Volleys on.

——–

I totally did put my Volleys on and I went to the local Asian grocery store for the first time. Holy mackerel! So many vegetarian fake meat options! So much tofu! So many different spices and sauces and tasty, tasty things! If I’d known it was so awesome I’d have cashed up before I walked in. I ended up buying a bag of frozen vegetarian ‘tuna’ and some dehydrated TVP ‘beef’ strips. I’ve been a vegetarian for over ten years and I still miss tuna. One of my favourite meals growing up was tuna and mayo warmed through and served on toast. I tried the mashed up chickpeas thing, but seriously who actually thinks that tastes like tuna?

Anyway, I’m going to give this frozen stuff a go this week and Louie has kindly agreed to help me review it. We may even make fake meat reviews a regular blogging feature. I did see fake shrimp today too. Oooh yeeeaaah!

Oh, also, I made this last night:

Cardigan – Colorado
Singlet – possibly Bonds
Shorts – Valley Girl
Tights – Hand me downs from Mum
Shoes – Dunlop Volleys
(Cat – Cilla)

Bit annoyed my shoes and tights didn’t show up very well in this photo. There’s a close up of them here if anyone is interested.

Yay! I finally started submitting to wardrobe_remix. Oh, also, I moved to Canberra. Unfortunately, I had to leave about four fifths of my wardrobe in Brisbane. I’ve been here in Canberra for about two months now and I miss so many things about Brisbane. The weather, my friends, the river, the weather, the public transport network (buses here suck), all the clothes and shoes I couldn’t bring with me… did I mention the weather? Anyway, I’m in Canberra with my Mum and Louie and I scored a job in a craft store.

I’m actually going to start blogging again for real now too. Go me!

I’ve been wanting to post a some progress photos of my latest projects all week, but by the time I go to take photos it’s always too dark and the photos aren’t very good. So, here is just one of my latest projects (the only photos that were semi-decent).

Data Structures In Pascal? It’s a hardcore university mathematics textbook, from what I understand. My uncle is a doctor of maths and I found it in my grandparents junk pile when they moved interstate. Random mathematics book, yes please! But now it’s not just any book. It’s a secret book.

Almost. I still need to hollow it out a bit more and clean it up, but it’s coming along nicely.